Museum Tirpitz, Blåvand DK

Client Museumscenter Blåvand Fonden, Dänemark
Architects BIG Architects, Kopenhagen
Planning 2012-2014
Execution 2015-2016
Construction cost ca. 22 Mio. Fr.
Services Structure:
Design phase
Tender documentation phase
Execution phase
Engineering partner Johansson & Kalstrup, Varde/DK
Award 2019 AIA Award - Architecture
Nomination Architizer A+ Award 2018
Topics CultureConcrete constructionFair faced concrete

The new museum was placed next to an existing World War bunker in the dune landscape of Blåvand. The building ensemble is divided into four rooms or halls, which were constructed as concrete structures. Their structures work independently, but are coupled via a common floor slab. The distinctive cantilevered and prestressed ceilings of up to 13 m are characterized by hyperbolic geometries, each of which is different from the other. The ceiling, “Wing Walls” and “Cross Walls” of each room form a closed structural system. The wing walls act as horizontal bearings for the cantilevered ceiling, they were partially offset in the axes due to geometric constraints. The continuously arranged cross walls form frame structures in conjunction with the ceiling sections. Along the exterior walls, the rooms are backfilled to floor level, the floor slab cantilevers one to two meters behind the exterior walls. According to the angular retaining wall principle, the buildings are stabilized by the earth loads and tensile forces in the foundation are avoided. The ceilings and walls were realized as fair faced concrete components.